The first modern critic of poetry in the Victorian time period goes by the name of Matthew Arnold whose lyrical pieces have been published since the 1860’s. Arnold lived in the United Kingdom all of his life and wrote his poetry from there. In the mid 19th century Arnold wrote and published his masterpiece monolog, “Dover Beach”. Unlike previous poets, Arnold showed diversity within his works by producing a piece different than others; by creating a dramatic work of many lines with unequal sections and a total of 37 lines.

The poem starts off with Dover himself looking to the beyond of the Southeast Coast. He establishes that he is with a significant other who is not mentioned fully but we are able to infer that they are together. The character (himself) seems to be attracted by the serenity of the scene and what it has to offer, including the quiet and pleasantness of it all. This clear description of composure and tranquility is seen in lines that say “ "the sea is calm tonight.” This becomes altered with an underlying noise that is coming from the beach and from the movement of the waves. This one sound of disturbance shifts the mood of the story from something that was once satisfying to a new, unspecified sadness.

The concentration of poem transfers from his love life to a historic moment in time when Greek figure Sophocles had heard a similar or exact noise. The point of view of the reader is now Sophocles and how he correlated this exact noise to human suffering. We assume that the dark noises are related to human suffering and misery; all in comparison to the sea. It comes to show that something that is perspectively seen as beautiful by many, the sea, in this case, can be seen as flawed by others. It shows the reality of the world and how nothing is ever how it seems.